Look Who's Realizing Now
by ajr818
Summary: Edward gets stuck in Denver while on a business trip, and Bella is back in Chicago giving birth to their first child. Not a good situation. My entry for the Fandom for Preemies compilation.


**_A/N: This was my entry for the Fandom for Preemies Compilation. If you would like to find out more about this great cause, the website is www (dot) fandomforpreemies (dot) blogspot (dot) com. Though the auction and donations have closed, you can read the teasers and may soon find links to other full entries that were contributed. The full compilation was over 1,200 pages long and in 30 days, we raised $5,065.50! There were a lot of amazing authors who contributed also. I'd like to thank AydenMorgan and the other awesome ladies at FfP for putting this all together. I'm honored to have contributed to this cause. Enjoy!_**

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**Fandom For Preemies Entry**

**Title: Look Who's Realizing Now**

**Author: ajr818**

**Genre: One-shot/All Human**

**Rating: M for strong language…just to be on the safe side ;)**

**Summary: Edward gets stuck in Denver while on a business trip, and Bella is back in Chicago giving birth to their first child. Not a good situation.**

**Disclaimer: Though I do not own Twilight or any of its characters, I do own this story.**

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**EPOV**

_This can't be happening. Not now … especially not fucking right now._

"Airtran Flight 418 to Chicago has a 2 hour delay due to the impending snow storm. All passengers of this flight should proceed through security and wait at their assigned terminal for their boarding to be called. Sorry for any inconvenience."

Bella was going to kill me. It was that simple. I promised her I would be there, and I let her down yet again. It seemed like every time I make a promise to her, my job got in the way. And here was a prime example of just that. I was missing the birth of my own child, because I absolutely couldn't miss this _important_ business trip.

I'd gotten the call from Renee that Bella had started having contractions, and it was probably best if I came home. I called the airline and bought a ticket for the next flight from Denver to Chicago, but this snow storm was going to ruin everything.

I should have just listened to her when she asked me not to go, but Cullen Advertising Firm always came first … all thanks to dear old Dad.

_I was finishing up packing when I heard her waddle into the room and shut the door behind her._

"_Edward, are you seriously going on this trip? Does it have to be right now? Can't it wait until after the baby is born?" She was pleading, but there was nothing I could do about it. Before my father died, I promised him I would always put the company first. That was one of the stipulations of the company being handed down to me._

"_I have to. This is a huge account for the company, and if I don't go to this meeting, we might lose it."_

"_But what if I go into labor? You do realize that I'm 39 weeks pregnant … or has that thought slipped your mind? Like everything else seems to when it comes to me."_

"_Bella, what are you talking about? Things don't 'slip my mind when it comes to you.' I just have a lot on my plate, and I can't do everything all at once."_

"_No, but you can up and leave your extremely pregnant wife to go on a business trip that could, most likely, be rescheduled since you are the fucking CEO of the company!" As she spoke her voice raised more and more until she was screaming at me. I knew I had to calm her down, or her blood pressure was going to skyrocket._

"_Babe, I know this isn't the greatest time, but I promise that if anything happens, I'll jump on the first plane out of Denver and be here as soon as I can. I just need to go and close this deal."_

_Bella sat down on the bed–actually more like collapsed–and looked down at her belly with a dejected look on her face._

"_I just don't know how this is going to work."_

"_How what is going to work?"_

_She looked up at me and had tears forming in her eyes._

"_Me taking care of this baby by myself."_

"_You're not going to take care of the baby by yourself. I'll be here and–"_

"_No you won't! It's going to be exactly like it is now. I'm _always_ here by myself. You care about that stupid company more than you do me."_

_I couldn't stand it anymore. She was always getting on me about how much time I spent at work. Why couldn't she understand how important my job was to me? I didn't love my job more than her. It was just important to me, because it was always important to my father. When I was growing up, my dad always spent long days at the office, and my mom never got on my dad's ass about it. Why couldn't it be like that with Bella and me?_

"_I have a flight to catch. If you go into labor, call me, and I'll get on a flight. I'm done talking about this right now." And with that, I grabbed my packed bag and went straight out to my car and left, without saying another word._

I was a complete jackass to her when I left, and I probably wouldn't even make it back for our child's birth. She was going to rip my balls off.

I finished going through security and headed to my terminal. When I got there, I called my mom to find out what was going on.

After two rings, she picked up.

"Hi, Edward."

"Hey, Mom. How's Bella doing?"

"She's doing okay right now. She's 5 centimeters dilated. Right now, she's pretty calm. She's doing a crossword puzzle."

"Can I talk to her?"

There was a pause from my mother, and I knew what she had to say wouldn't be good, though it was expected.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, honey. She's kind of moody right now."

"Mom, you can just say that she's pissed at me and doesn't want to talk to me. I don't blame her. I just thought I'd try."

"Hold on a second."

I waited a few minutes on the phone and could hear my mom saying something in the background, and then a few minutes later, she came back on the line.

"Sorry, I have something to tell you, and I needed to leave the room to say this."

"Okay …"

"You understand my relationship with your father was not a peachy as we made it out to be, right?"

"Mom, what are you talking about? I never saw any problems with Dad and you."

Mom scoffed. "That's because we didn't want you kids to know how many problems we actually had ... most of those problems stemming from how invested he was in the company."

"I don't remember any of that."

"That's because your father and I hid it well. We didn't want you to worry about our problems when you had enough of your own problems to deal with."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I see the exact same thing happening between you and Bella, and it kills me to see you turn into your father. Don't get me wrong ... I loved your father to death, but the man loved one thing and one thing only–and that was his career. I see how much you and Bella love each other, and I don't want that strained relationship for the two of you. I understand the company is important to you, but the job is not as important as the people and relationships in your life. Don't push Bella away. Please."

My mother was pleading with me. I didn't know what was worse–that, or the fact my parents had a strained relationship, because my father was a workaholic, … and I was just like him.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. I'm trying to get out of this airport, but this storm is screwing everything up."

"Don't worry. You'll get here, and I know Bella and you will figure everything out."

"Thanks–and tell Bella I'm sorry."

"I will, honey. I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright, love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

I hung up the phone and relaxed in my chair, hoping I could get some sleep before I had to deal with the wrath of Bella.

"Flight 418 is now boarding. All first-class passengers please proceed to board your flight. Sorry for the delay, and thank you for choosing Airtran Airlines."

_Finally! Maybe I'll actually make it before Bella gives birth._

I grabbed my carry on and made my way up to the line at the boarding desk. It didn't take long to finally get on the plane and to take off.

Though there was some slight turbulence on the way, I made it to O'Hare without any major difficulties.

As soon as I was off that plane, I was in a cab on the way to Northwestern Memorial. I'm sure the driver realized I was flustered and in a hurry, because–though traffic in Chicago sucks most of the time–he got me there in record time.

I gave him a $100 tip. He deserved it.

When I finally got to the Labor & Delivery Ward, I was welcomed with open arms by Renee and my mother. I was super lucky that Bella hadn't gotten to 10 centimeters yet, but she was almost there.

I walked into the room where she was waiting to start pushing.

"Wow ... I'm surprised you made it at all."

She had a lilt to her voice, and I knew she was extremely pissed off. With her being pissed off _and _deep in labor, I was surprised she wasn't already yelling at me. Though her being calm and mad was almost worse than her yelling.

"I told you I would."

"Yeah, like you ever keep your promises any other time."

"Okay, can we not fight right _now_? I know I'm an asshole, and I totally deserve it, but I want you to be happy right now, and I want to be happy right now, because pretty soon, we are going to have a son."

"Like you're ever going to be around him–"

"I am. I talked to my mom earlier, and there are going to be some changes. Especially with how I treat you and how much time I spend at work. I was thinking I might ask Emmett to become a co-CEO and help me with the company, so I don't have to work as often as I do."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Alright, but can we just talk about this later? I want us to be happy right now."

I saw her features soften just a little, and I knew I'd gotten through to her.

"Okay, yeah. I want us to be happy right now."

Within the hour, Charles Masen Cullen was born.

We were all sitting in a regular hospital room, and I was lying next to Bella on the hospital bed, watching her hold Charlie.

It was amazing.

I knew I was telling Bella the absolute truth when I told her I would be around, and I would do everything in my power to make sure that happened.

Bella looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back and knew things were going to change for the better.


End file.
